Man Claims Rights Were Violated During Bus Trip

January 11, 1986|By Rich Pollack, Staff Writer

A Lake Worth man who was arrested in Texas on a warrant claimed on Friday that his basic rights were violated when he was forced to sit upright in unhealthy conditions for a week while being bused back to the Palm Beach County Jail.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Palm Beach County Circuit court, Danny J. Wagnon charged that Prisoner Transport Services of Titusville violated his civil rights by not treating him properly during the bus trip.

``They didn`t let him out of the bus for seven days,`` said Wagnon`s attorney, Mark W. Clark. ``It was unbelievable.``

Clark said a warrant was issued for his client on charges related to a stock purchase Wagnon had made.

He said Wagnon was picked up during a traffic stop in San Antonio and officials in Palm Beach County were notified that he had been arrested.

Prisoner Transport Services, according to the suit, was contracted to transport Wagnon back to the county after Wagnon waived extradition.

According to Clark, Wagnon left San Antonio on May 9 and arrived in Palm Beach County seven days later.

During the trip, Clark contends in the suit, Wagnon was forced to ``sleep and reside on the bus in a seated position, handcuffed with his hands chained to his waist.``

The suit contends that Wagnon was transported in a ``dirty, filthy, smelly bus`` and that his rights were violated when he was deprived of clean and sanitary restrooms, personal hygiene, reasonable exercise, adequate medical treatment and clean clothes.

Clark said Wagnon was subjected to intensive heat because he was left on the bus during mechanical breakdowns.

The suit also contends that the trip aggravated a back injury Wagnon had suffered.

A representative of Prison Transport Services said Friday night that no one in a position to comment on the suit could be reached.

In the suit, Clark wrote, ``Transport Services failed to establish and implement adequate rules, regulations, policies and or guidelines to ensure the adequate protection of the constitutional rights of an arrestee in their custody.``